Reasonable Doubt
by dontwaitupxx
Summary: Sokka doesn't trust Jet and his followers. In the darkness of the night, Sokka is mistaken for Fire Nation.
1. Chapter 1

Reasonable Doubt

An Avatar: The Last Airbender Fan Fiction

By: dontwaitupxx

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><p>Chapter One<p>

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><p>Sokka turned over onto his side, the full moon lightly shining in his face. He could hear Appa slightly snoring above the treetops, above the tree houses that were homes and refuges to the orphaned boys and girls. And that's exactly what they were – orphans. No parents around to take care of them or to teach them right from wrong. Children with no sense of direction, and looking up to the one person with the strength to take charge: Jet. The one person who was able to feed them and give them whatever they needed to survive and enjoy life. He was a Robin Hood of some sort: his actions were virtuous and noble on one hand, but not at the cost of stealing from others and of innocent old men.<p>

Yes, of innocent old men. Jet and his followers had robbed and attacked an innocent old man earlier that day. The man was Fire Nation, yes, but he was harmless and was just a man going about his day. The man had nothing on him, and had no way of attacking and harming anyone. Sokka came to understand that day that there were Fire Nation citizens living in colonies throughout the Earth Kingdom that wished no harm on anyone. Jet and his followers should have been fighting the Fire Nation Capitol and the Fire Nation's armies: not innocent old men. Sokka just wished that Jet could see the true enemy.

Jet had revealed a certain poisonous dagger that the old man was hiding – quite an impressive and expensive looking dagger for an old man from a simple colony to possess. Jet claimed that the old man had concealed it, and was a hired assassin to kill Jet, but the old man was frail, and Jet was a young man of sixteen. If the Fire Nation had really wanted Jet dead, they would have just burnt down the entire forest, not sent an old man to climb treetops.

Sokka moved onto his back, sighing. They had been staying at Jet's hideout for what had been no more than a day, and he knew that Jet and his followers were bad news. Aang and Katara refused to believe that Jet was bad news, and Katara had verbally attacked him, saying that Jet was a better leader and a better warrior than him. Coming from his sister, it was a blow to his pride, seeing as he had been basically single handedly defending their tribe from Fire Nation attacks. He wondered, though, if what she said held to be true. After all, the one time that their tribe was attacked, he was thrown off to the side like a ragdoll; unable to defend the people he loved. Jet though, was able to protect countless _children_, and was able to keep them hidden, suspended high among the trees and the birds. He was able to keep them fed and healthy, while his tribe back home was dwindling in numbers due to starvation and disease. He wondered if his tribe was better off without him.

Before he could think about it any longer, hushed whispers and light footsteps reached his ears, coming from outside their specific hut. The voices were travelling, rustling leaves in their wake and disappearing as they went down zip lines. Sokka quickly got up and inched the curtain open, furrowing his eyebrows as he saw silhouettes in the darkness disappear down the zip lines. Jet never said anything about any missions this late at night, and he was already suspicious of him and his intentions.

He quickly and quietly jumped onto the tree branch right next to their hut, and jumped onto the nearest zip line down to a lower branch, still a good twenty feet up in the air. He maneuvered from branch to branch, keeping himself hidden within the leaves and the shadows of the trees. He crouched down on a particularly thick branch, observing. From there, he saw a wagon, full with what looked like the blasting jelly from the Fire Nation camp they had attacked earlier. Something wasn't right. What would they possibly be using blasting jelly for so late in the night?

He jumped down, making his way on foot in the foliage behind them, keeping his distance and keeping care not to step on any thin twigs.

They were talking about pedestrian things – like the amount of game they got on the last hunting trip, or the look on the Fire Nation soldier's face when The Duke jumped on his back and started singing an Earth Kingdom hymn. There was nothing suspicious about what they were doing except the blasting jelly and time of night they were doing it in. Maybe they were taking it off to a storage unit. Sokka wouldn't argue that those barrels were probably way too heavy to put into the tree houses, much less to try and get up there.

After about fifteen minutes of following behind them, they stopped at the edge of a cliff, overlooking a small town, a ravine, and a dam, holding up a very large river. Sokka positioned himself behind a tree, halfway concealed to get a good look. Jet looked out over the cliff, a small smile on his face, before turning back towards his followers.

"Now listen," Jet began, "You're not to blow the dam until I give the signal. If the reservoir isn't full, the Fire Nation troops could survive."

The Duke was the first to speak up, jumping over the wagon, "But what about the people in the town? Won't they get whipped out too?"

Jet walked over to him and put a hand on The Duke's shoulder, "Look, Duke, that's the price of ridding this area of the Fire Nation," Jet turned towards Longshot, "Now don't blow the dam until I give the signal." Longshot nodded in approval, understanding.

Jet stepped back and gave a lopsided grin, until out of the corner of his eye, he saw the silhouette of an intruder. He stepped back, squinting, and Sokka made a move to reveal himself, to confront Jet and his followers. Jet's face gave a look of recognition, but then hardened again, and Jet clucked his tongue once and made a swipe-like gesture on his nose twice. Before Sokka could make himself known, he felt something hot and sharp impale him in the side, teetering him off balance and sending him to the ground.

All at once, everything began swirling together. Gasping, he looked to his side, and saw one of Longshot's arrows protruding out of his side. He saw red blood seeping into his blue Water Tribe clothing, turning it a purple color. The arrow in his side hurt more than any injury he had ever had, even more than when he broke his leg when he was ten. Looking down at the particular arrow, he saw clear liquid dripping off of the side of it, and knew instantly that he was poisoned.

Sokka dragged himself out by his arms, bringing himself fully into the dawning light. His ears were buzzing and he felt light headed. He felt betrayed; he knew that Jet and his followers were no good. He craned his neck up to look at his gang, and they all looked petrified.

Jet wasted no time, "Smellerbee, get one of those Fire Nation arrows out from the cart; Pipsqueak, hold Sokka down."

Pipsqueak reluctantly obeyed, holding down Sokka's struggling body with large hands, "Jet, what are we doing?" He seemed confused and frantic – needless to say: they all knew the potency of the poison that Longshot carried around.

"I didn't know it was him," Jet said, straight faced, "But we're going to cover our tracks." Jet knelt down next to Sokka's writhing body, and yanking it out without any precaution, without any preamble. The scream that came out of Sokka was loud and fiery, but Jet wasn't worried about anyone from camp hearing him: they were out fifteen minutes away from camp, and had the entire thick forest to capture the scream. There was no way Aang and Katara would have heard.

"You were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time," Jet said offhandedly. Even in Sokka's fevered state, he spit at Jet's face.

Jet whipped off the spit from his face, and in its absence, a scowl was present, "No one, not even Aang or Katara, is going to believe you," Jet said, grabbing the Fire Nation arrow from Smellerbee, "For all they will know, you ran into a Fire Nation troop, and you were just in the _wrong place_ at the _wrong time_."

With those words, he took the Fire Nation arrow and rammed it down into the hole where the arrow that Sokka was shot with used to be. Sokka's body seized up as he screamed; sweat dripping down his face in fevered tendrils. His body crumpled as his voice died out and he passed out, his head hitting the ground by Jet's feet. Jet looked up at his gang: they were all frozen where they were, staring back at him with disbelieving eyes. They knew that Jet did things that they didn't understand, and they knew that he had good reasons for why he did what he did, but none of them could fathom the extremity of Jet's actions thus far.

Jet stood up and faced them all, a cold look washing over his face, "It goes without saying that no one is to ever speak of this to anyone ever again. There will be fatal consequences to anyone who does. You will be considered a traitor, and will be treated as such."

"But Jet," it was Longshot who spoke, his small, unused voice piercing the silence, "What will we do when he wakes up? He'll tell Katara and Aang."

"If he wakes up," Jet corrected, "We're leaving him here, and if he isn't found by nightfall, the frost of the night will finish off whatever the poison hasn't already. If he's found, we blame the Fire Nation. The poison could have made him delusional. We already have both the Avatar and Katara on our side. They'll never believe him."

"So… we are just supposed to leave him to die?" Smellerbee asked.

"Are you questioning my authority?" Jet asked, swinging his hook-swords into an en guarde position, "Remind yourself of whom you are talking to. Remind yourself that the Avatar is an all powerful bender that could and will kill you if he finds out that you were behind this."

"Me?" Smellerbee protested, "I had nothing to do with this! I didn't shoot Sokka!"

"But you gave me the Fire Nation arrow," Jet whipped his hook-swords down, back to his sides, "Let none of you think that one of you is less responsible than another. You are all responsible, and if I go down, you go down with me, "Jet's eyes narrowed, "Do I make myself clear?"

A few mumbled affirmations were given among them, and Jet put away his hook-swords. He looked down at the fallen Water Tribe warrior, whose face had paled considerably due to the poison and loss of blood. A small pool of blood lay in front of him from when the arrows were switched out, and the rag-tag arrow that Longshot had used initially was laid next to his shivering body. He picked up the arrow and gave it to Smellerbee, "Break this into pieces and then throw it over the ledge and into the ravine. Pipsqueak, throw Sokka into the bushes. It's time to break up this mirth, friends, and get to work. Smellerbee and Pipsqueak, get lost. Go on a walk, and don't come back until sundown."

"But that's hours from now!" Smellerbee protested.

Jet snapped and spun around, "Do you think I care? Look – we have to have an alibi for Sokka, and as far as I'm concerned, the best way to make sure that his sister and the Avatar don't find out is if you two say that you are on a hunting trip with Sokka. Come back at nightfall and say that he wandered off and didn't return: that should give us enough time. By then the dam will be blown, the Fire Nation troops rid from the town, and Sokka will be dead, or sick enough that death will be inevitable. We have to cover our tracks, and if you're not with me, you're against me, and will be considered a traitor… Do _not _make me blow you up with that dam."

With that, the group fell silent and moved about, doing as they were told. A moan escaped Sokka's lips as he was dropped into a bush. Jet smirked and walked over, noticing how Sokka's eyes had opened slightly.

"None of this would have ever happened if you hadn't challenged my authority," Jet shrugged.

Sokka's teeth were gritted, "You knew it was me. You saw me, and yet you still shot me."

Jet grinned, "Observant. I made a decision and I went with it. Sometimes, Sokka, you just got to trust your instinct if you want to survive in this world… and something tells me that you're not."

Jet landed a blow in Sokka's side, right near where the Fire Nation arrow was protruding. Sokka let out another yell of pain, and then his body went slack for the second time that day.

Jet and Sokka were similar in many ways. Both were non-benders, and both had to fight in order to survive. It was survival of the fittest, really. And there could only be one leader.

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><p>-End of Chapter One-<p>

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><p>AN: I haven't wrote for Avatar in over six years. Read my other story, <span>Never Give Up Without A Fight<span>, and tell me how this one fares in comparison!


	2. Chapter 2

Reasonable Doubt

By: dontwaitupxx

Chapter Two

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><p>The Autumn leaves were crisp against the backdrop of the tan sky, vibrantly scarlet and tangerine against the green, leafy buds that were still ripe from summer, against the browns that had fallen to the ground, full of nutrients for the soil to absorb before the next spring. It was early morning – right around the moments following the break of dawn – and the looming anticipation that something big was about to happen was on everyone's shoulders, but Katara and Aang did not know the specifics.<p>

The two of them were following behind Jet, who was leading them along a pathway next to a thin creek. The creek splashed softly here and there, but it wasn't nearly big enough to roar like a rushing river. The woods to their right crinkled melodiously with the sounds of crickets and plants, of animals and birds; all in their flight to gather enough food and necessities before the first frost, before winter came. Aang could understand exactly how Jet and his followers were able to live in the middle of the forest. It was so quiet, so secluded; it gave one the opportunity for peace and solitude.

Jet and Katara were slightly ahead of Aang, holding a light conversation.

"Jet," Katara began, "I'm sorry about how Sokka has been acting."

A slim smile curled onto Jet's face, "No worries. He already apologized."

Aang was genuinely surprised; Sokka hardly ever apologized, "Really? Sokka apologized?"

Jet stopped walking, "Yeah, I was surprised too," he turned back towards Katara, "I got the sense that maybe you talked to him or something."

A sense of fulfillment washed over Katara, "Yeah… I did."

"I guess something you said got through to him," Katara smiled lightly. Sokka was finally starting to mature, "Anyhow, he went on a scouting mission with Pipsqueak and Smellerbee."

They continued walking, "I'm glad he cooled off. He can be so stubborn sometimes."

A mist like sound could be heard from underneath their toes. It escalated in sound, and with it, a ferocious burst of air came out from the ground right below Aang. The Airbender shot up into the air, laughing as he floated back down. They had found the geysers.

"Alright, we're here," Jet said, observing Aang as he landed on his feet and righted himself, "Underground water is trying to escape from these vents. I need you guys to help it along."

Katara felt unsure, "I've never used bending on water I can't see… I don't know…" She had only recently begun to get a grip on her bending technique, and even then, it was shaky, and didn't always work out the way she needed it to, despite her growing achievements with the element.

Jet came up behind her, holding her close by the shoulders, in a chillingly comforting way, "Hey Katara, you can do this," He said, looking into her eyes, and giving her a reassuring look.

"Hey, what about me?" Aang asked, almost jokingly, but bitingly feeling a little left out.

Jet gave out a small laugh, "I know the Avatar can do this." Katara felt a pang of jealousy at that: for Jet to automatically assume that Aang was able to do this just because he was the Avatar; even when she had been trying to bend her entire life and he had only just started, that she had been struggling and to him, it came naturally.

Together, both Aang and Katara went up to one of the holes in the ground, hot air and mist migrating out of it almost like a powder snow. They took their stances, identical to one another, and moved as one bender; as though a mirror were between them to have them copy each other moves precisely. They slowly and purposefully moved their arm up and down above the hole, grasping to feel the water they couldn't see, feeling their chi flow with the invisible element. From Jet's perspective, it didn't look like anything was happening, and for a moment, he regretted this decision, and tried to quickly come up with another time consuming task to keep Katara and Aang occupied before nightfall. Sure, there was enough water in the reservoir to accomplish their mission, but it wouldn't be overkill to have even more water in there, and it would leave less room for error. Before Jet could think of another task, however, he started to hear the water rushing up from deep within the hole, and Katara and Aang both opened their eyes in amazement, hearing it as well with a small hint of happy disbelief on their faces.

A small stream of water was coming out of the hole, gentle and docile. It was taking both beginner benders strength to get the water to come out of the ground out of its' own accord, but slowly and surely the stream was beginning to form. With one final pull, gallons of water came out, suspended above their heads, before Katara and Aang nodded at one another and pushed the water to the side, to allow the stream to be sent off into the reservoir. The rush of water sang at their ears, sounding like a waterfall, and before they knew it, boiling water was being sent into the reservoir, gallons at a time.

Jet was elated, and not for the reasons Aang and Katara thought, "Yes! Good job! This river empties into the reservoir! A few more geysers and it'll be full!"

Aang looked off to the right side and pointed, "Look there's another steam vent!"

_And about fifty more where that came from_, Jet thought to himself.

"Okay, you two keep it up, I'll go check on things at the reservoir," Jet said, a smirk on his face as he turned around to leave.

"When we're done," Katara started, "we'll meet you over there!"

A pang that Jet would never admit as nervousness sounded in his gut, and he turned around, trying to keep his voice even and his face blank, "Actually, it would probably be better if you meet me at the hideout when you're done. I've got plenty of people to help me out."

Jet turned around, heading up at a leisurely pace towards the reservoir. When he was out of eyesight of both Aang and Katara, he headed up the hill towards the forest.

He had a friend he needed to check up on.

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><p>The sun blazed directly above him through the leaves of the bushes and yanked Sokka out of his slumber, a dull pain in his side bringing him full force back into the conscious world, and he groaned, unable to remember why he was in so much pain. Sweat covered every inch of his skin, and he found himself shivering despite the comfortable fall day. He looked up and saw a Fire Nation arrow sticking out of his side grotesquely, and whimpered at his muscles rubbing against it.<p>

Memories flooded back to him of what couldn't have been too long ago: following Jet and his gang over towards the ravine, being shot by one of those mindless followers – was it Smellerbee? Longshot? – he couldn't remember, and then the worst part: the excruciating pain of having an arrow ripped out of his side and a new one jammed in. The last thing he remembered was Jet coming over and saying something to him, before kicking him in the side, the jostling of his injuries bringing him under. He turned himself on his side, in an attempt to pick himself up, but found that that was nearly impossible with the arrow wiggling and digging into him. He could tell the injury must already be infected. It had to have been midday by now. He wasn't a doctor, but he knew his survival rate must be low.

With no other plan to go by, Sokka took the arrow in both hands, lying on his side, and braced himself. His wound, infected or not, wasn't going to heal itself with an arrow blocking the way. He wasn't sure if this would kill him outright, but he remembered where he had followed Jet's group out to last night: it was far out, and no one would find him until he was long since dead. He had to try.

With one deep breath, he began to yank the arrow out of his side. He whimpered, holding in his screams, not that anyone would hear him, but because he was a warrior, and warriors didn't scream. Bato and his father, Hakoda, they didn't scream. They trudged through it like the warriors they were.

He had gotten it about halfway out before he had to stop, breathing heavily, with sweat pouring down his face. He knew that he wouldn't have much time to stop the bleeding, much less stop himself from dying, so he quickly unraveled one of his arm bindings to tie around his waist.

The second half of pulling out the arrow would be much more difficult, seeing as the arrow part was much wider than the shaft. As much as he may try to brace himself for that, he knew he would never do the pain justice. Without any further ado, he took the arrow in both hands and gave as strong of a tug as he could manage, a small grunt escaping his lips, but other than that, he stayed silent. Finally, after what felt like hours of ripping and stretching and yanking, he pulled the arrow loose, and he felt his body give out, falling down to the ground in a clump and he wanted to just pass out right then and there. But he knew if he did, he wouldn't make it very long at all.

Gingerly, he pushed himself up to sit upright, gasping at the blood blossoming beneath his tunic, turning the color of it a dark maroon. He took his arm binding and began wrapping it around his torso, cringing whenever the white fabric would come around to touch his skin again. His hands shaking, he tied it off, and for good measure, unraveled his second arm binding to wrap around his torso as well.

He felt light headed, and he knew that it was from the blood loss. He was scared, nervous, but he would never admit that to anyone: maybe Appa on a bad day, when no one was around to hear him, but nonetheless. He pressed a hand towards the wound, using pressure to try and stop the bleeding faster. With his other hand, he grabbed a short hanging branch from a nearby tree, and used it to try and help himself up. He felt the wound stretch out beneath his hand and fought the urge to scream, wanting nothing more than to pass out and escape the pain. It was then that he realized that he had to keep moving. If he stopped for even a moment, he didn't think he would ever wake back up. With that, a surge of adrenaline pumped through his veins, and he trudged forward, back towards the camp, clutching his side and teetering slightly.

He lifted his hand up slightly from his side to find that it was soaked with blood, with little beads dropping to the ground. He wondered briefly how much blood someone could loose before they would give out and die.

Trying not to think about that, he placed his hand back on his torso, and took a step forward, whimpering at the sparks of pain lighting up his side.

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><p>Jet held the Fire Nation arrow in one hand. The blood had long since been dried up, and with no body and no traces to speak of, Jet didn't know how far long Sokka had gotten. He could already be back at camp, his followers that weren't in his inner circle treating a traitor. By now, the sun was halfway down from the center of the sky; it would be dusk in a few hours. No doubt, Aang and Katara would be back from the water vents at any time. Jet had ended up checking on his boys back by the dam before he went to check up on Sokka. That was a mistake on his part.<p>

But Jet couldn't be sure that Sokka had made it back to the camp. It was possible that he had succumbed to the elements on his trek back. It was possible that he would die before Aang and Katara would ever know that he was hurt. But he needed a plan.

He still had the dam that he needed to blow up. That was a top priority, not Sokka. But if Sokka were to get in his way again and tip Aang and Katara off about what he was about to do, then his plan would be ruined.

He couldn't expect them to understand why he had to do this. They couldn't possibly understand.

If Aang and Katara had finished bringing up water from the water vents, then he could give the signal to blow up the dam. That needed to be done before dusk.

He knew what he had to do.

With the blood-dried arrow in his hand, he walked over towards the cliff and chucked the arrow into the ravine. He then turned his back on his camp, Aang, and Katara, and headed towards the dam.

It was time to shake things up.


End file.
